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After Mount Manresa: With the fight to save it lost, what happens next? (editorial)

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Workers removed the iconic Mount Manresa sign next to the Staten Island Expressway. The historic Catholic retreat in Fort Wadsworth has been sold by the Jesuits to a developer.
(Advance photo: Maura Grunlund)

The signs in front of Mount Manresa came down on Wednesday, signaling that the fears of those who wanted to preserve the beautiful Fort Wadsworth property have been realized.

Supporters of preservation, particularly the dedicated members of the Committee to Save Mount Manresa, expressed shock and outrage. But really, this development comes as no surprise.

The sign removal came a month after Acting Supreme Court Justice Charles Troia approved the sale of the property by the Jesuit order. The Jesuits owned the property and operated it as a retreat house and spiritual sanctuary for more than a century.

The buyer is Savo Brothers of Prince’s Bay, who intend to develop the 15-acre tract with housing. Opponents of the sale have appealed. That appeal has yet to work its way through the courts, but it’s unlikely that the decision will be overturned, despite the wishes of thousands of people here and elsewhere. The opponents have raised lots of emotional, environmental and historic objections that resonate with Staten Islanders. Unfortunately, however their legal arguments against the sale just don’t hold up.

This is still America, after all, and the owner of a piece of private property is permitted to sell to a private enterprise. And that private enterprise has a right to develop it within zoning regulations, regardless of how others feel about that.

The zoning for that part of Staten Island permits townhouses and Savo Brothers have avoided making any commitment about how the property will be redeveloped.

Of course, this disappointing turn of events has led to a new round of finger-pointing and the Society of Jesus and the Savo Brothers have rightly come in for most of the blame.

“Both the Jesuits and the developer exhibited the worst type of greed, and have shown a complete lack of reverence for Mother Nature, and betrayed an entire community for nothing more than profit,” Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis and State Sen. Diane Savino said in a joint statement.

We certainly wish Savo Brothers and the Jesuits had been more forthright and communicative with the community and compromised somewhere along the line, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards and the developers have no legal obligation to do so. Like it or not, the Jesuits can sell it and Savo Brothers can build as of right.

One overlooked culprit here was Hurricane Sandy. Staten Island was still reeling from the epic Oct. 29, 2012 storm when the Jesuits announced in early 2013 that the retreat house would close and the Manresa property sold. Savo Brothers quickly stepped forward as the prospective buyer with the means to buy it.

With public attention consumed by the storm’s aftermath and the cleanup, the developing transaction largely went under the radar. The initial announcement was widely lamented, but organized opposition to it did not materialize until later last year.

Elected officials such as Ms. Savino and Ms. Malliotakis joined the critics and helped orchestrate the lawsuit to stop the sale and redevelopment. But, despite what people have claimed, neither the politicians nor the opponents have any real power to do that. Other than enforcing regulations, government has no say.

The question is what happens next. The opponents fought the good fight, but without the millions needed to purchase the property, they lost.

Assuming Judge’s Troia’s ruling is not reversed, Savo Brothers intend to build as soon as possible in a recovering housing market; the hurried sign-razing shows that.

Maybe there is still an opportunity for Borough President James Oddo to sit down with Savo Brothers and try to reach an agreement to preserve the chapel and perhaps other popular features as part of the larger residential development. That would be a good way for Savo to mend some fences, at least

Beyond that, this episode should be a compelling lesson to every community on Staten Island.

Years ago, former Rep. Vito Fossella convened a task force to perform an inventory of large properties, including those owned by religious and other not-for-profit institutions, with the idea of working to save them from development. Perhaps a new task force should be empaneled and set to work.

If there is an open piece of land that might some day be developed, or a site that could eventually fall to development, a la Manresa, they should take notice now. Mount Manresa isn’t the first scenic tract owned by a non-profit to come up for sale on Staten Island and you can bet it won’t be the last.